Inspire * Motivate * Educate

Now let’s go back to the formula I gave you earlier in this book, S+R=R.

For this example, your situation (S) is that you have just inherited $1 million. Your reaction (R) is you quit your job and decide to be a professional party animal. At that very moment, you have lost sight of your future and made an incorrect choice, based in part to your inexperience with money. As a result (R), you wake up one day completely broke, because you chose alcohol, drugs, materialism, fake friends, and extrinsic rewards.

The better and much smarter path is be to accountable for yourself, own the situation and your reactions to it, and be much more responsible by looking ahead to your future and its possible outcomes. In this particular scenario, this person has the ability to bounce back from a bad situation, learn from past mistakes, thereby changing their results.

Here is the same situation, but a different reaction produces a different result. The reaction (R) is to put the money to good use by hiring a financial advisor that is looking out for your best interests. As a result (R), your financial advisor invests wisely and makes money on your money, which leads to greater financial stability and investment opportunities.

The S+R=R formula can be applied to all aspects of life or addictive behavior: academics, athletics, demographics, socio-economic status, illness, alcohol and drug abuse, and gang violence. Stop placing blame and take responsibility for yourself. Change your mindset, make the time, put in the effort, and be in control of your own results.

Take ownership and make a conscious change! Stop blaming others or outside forces. Find someone close to you that has read this book so you can be a team in order to hold each other accountable.

While writing this, two of my nieces, to whom this book is partially dedicated, came to visit me from Hawaii. I told them that whenever one catches the other blaming someone else or an outside force for something, the “blamer” would owe the “blame jar” one dollar. At the end of each week, the one with the least amount of dollars would get to keep both jars of money and we would start the competition over. Knowing how close and how competitive they are, I knew they would hold each other accountable for their actions.

You have to take responsibility for everything and change in order to get the outcome you desire. Change your response or reaction to the event or situation internally and you will be in complete control. Taking 100% of the responsibility for your actions, attitudes, life, and emotions will make a smooth sailing life for yourself.

Until you decide to do this, you will continue to blame, struggle financially, argue and even fall into a deeper traps of hardship and misery. I know from experience. If you decide to take small steps towards changing yourself, you can live a life full of reward and satisfaction. It is solely up to you.

I want you to tell yourself you are in control of everything! The mannerisms you have, the attitudes you have, even the feelings you have are all within your control to change. You have to become aware of the things you want to change and be 100% crystal clear on where you want to be in the next few months. I believe you can do it no matter what. I PROMISE YOU, if you follow my instruction, your life will change in leaps and bounds to levels greater than you could have ever possibly imagined.

How do I know this? Because I am a product of it.

Ask yourself right now, are you ready to change? Are you ready to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for the current stage in your life? Shout out wherever you are right now:

“I am READY to CHANGE!!! I want to change, I am ready to change, and I will work on myself, no matter what!”